SWIM/SURF
First-Time Designer Makes a Splash with Paradise Ranch Designs
Kristyn Goddard, the designer and owner of Paradise Ranch Designs, dreamed of buying swimwear that could be as alluring as a Hollywood starlet’s portrait from the 1940s and 1950s yet not reveal too much of a woman’s body.
But when shopping, she could never find these suits. So the first-time designer decided to create a line for herself.
Even though she had no experience designing, Goddard, the sole investor in her label, doesn’t consider herself a fashion novice. She spent 15 years working as a fit model in Los Angeles before opening the Paradise Ranch Pet Resort in 1996, a cage-free boarding kennel for dogs. It is located 20 minutes north of downtown Los Angeles.
When she set out to launch her first collection, the budding designer worked with Margot Stone, a downtown Los Angeles patternmaker Goddard knew from her days as a fit model.
In February 2016, Paradise Ranch Designs was selected to exhibit at WWDMAGIC’s Emerging Designer Showcase in Las Vegas.
The collection includes one-piece bathing suits with long sleeves and silhouettes that resemble bodysuits. Other styles include “Snorkel Couture,” which is reminiscent of a wet suit.
These one-pieces also offer ample coverage to shield thighs all the way down to the knees.
The line includes rompers that feature cutout panels around the arms and the collar. Other one-piece suits juxtapose mesh and typical swimwear fabric such as spandex.
The label’s two-piece suits offer boy-short silhouettes instead of bikini bottoms. Other bottoms feature vintage-inspired, high-waisted styles and skorts—a hybrid of a skirt and a short.
Tops include retro-inspired, tie-front halters and tops with fabric that covers arms and provides more coverage than a typical bikini triangle top.
The collection comes in solid colors including black, white, cardinal and olive. It also comes in prints such as tropical florals, tie dyes and animal prints.
In addition, Paradise Ranch Designs offers a wide variety of other pieces, such as dresses, jackets, pants and boardshorts. “The pieces we designed are way more than a bathing suit,” Goddard said. “You spend a lot of money on bathing suits, and you don’t wear them but a couple of times over the summer. With Paradise Ranch Designs, we made matching pants, skirts and coverups so you could make an outfit out of your suit,” Goddard said.
The company also makes suits for pets, which often match the styles in the women’s collection. Samples of the pet clothes were exhibited at a Fashion Unleashed fund-raiser, produced last March by the Fashion for Profit entrepreneurial education group.
After the fundraiser, Goddard decided to make more pet clothes. “We’ve sold as many dog clothes as ladies’ clothes,” the designer said. “Anything to do with dogs is popular.”
Retail price points for Paradise Ranch Designs styles range from $82 to $195. The collection is sold on the company’s website, www.paradiseranchdesigns.com.
